Lignocellulolytic Enzyme Activity of New Corticoid and Poroid Basidiomycetes Isolated from Latvian Cultural Monuments

Abstract

Eleven corticoid and three poroid fungi have been isolated from Latvian cultural monuments and evaluated for their potential to produce wood-degrading enzymes. In submerged fermentation of mandarin peels, notable intergeneric and intrageneric differences were revealed with regard to the extent of hydrolase and oxidase activity. The xylanase activity of the tested basidiomycetes varied from 0.1 to 2.4 U/mL depending on the fungus species, while that among the strains of Athelia neuhoffii varied from 0.1 to 1.3 U/mL. Five strains of white-rot fungi produced neither laccase nor manganese peroxidases. Cellulase and xylanase of Hyphoderma praetermissum and Tubulicrinis glebulosus appeared to be inducible enzymes. Lignocellulosic substrates strongly affected the enzyme production, because the laccase of H. praetermissum and T. glebulosus was secreted only in the submerged fermentation on mandarin peels and wheat bran, whereas the production of manganese peroxidase by Hypochnicium punctulatum and Phellinus chrisoloma was observed only in the solid-state fermentation of wheat bran and ethanol production residue.